This is our highest Cabernet Franc percentage blend to date, showcasing the volcanic soils and Sage Mountain character.
This wine has a lively and expressive aroma of red fruits and flowers such as hibiscus.
The first impression on the palate is a concentrated dark fruit flavour, with hints of youthful mulberry, wild herbs, spices and graphite-like minerality.
The wine's fruit is enveloped in a rich, silky texture, velvety tannins and ferrous minerality.
This is a wine that is both powerful and sophisticated, and will continue to evolve over time.
Continuum is an estate wine made from 100% grapes from our own Sage Mountain Vineyard.
Located on Pritchard Hill, deep in the mountains east of Oakville in Napa Valley, overlooking Napa Valley and San Francisco Bay, the vineyards have rocky volcanic soils that result in low yields, allowing the vines to focus their energy on producing fruit with depth and complexity.
The 2019 Continuum is sourced from 36 acres of mature estate vines with an average age of 20 years, planted in 1991 and 1996, then in 2004, 2010 and 2013.
Divided into 42 plots with different characteristics, the grapes used for this wine are grown on west-facing and south-facing plots located at 396-487m above sea level, with slight slopes to the north and east.
Continuum's complexity comes from the diversity of vines planted in volcanic soils.
Cool temperatures and 1,219mm of rainfall over the winter helped to refresh the soil during the dormant period.
The cool, rainy weather delayed the start of the growing season, causing flowering to occur 21 days later than usual, but ultimately allowed the berries to overcome the cold spring temperatures and produce healthy fruit.
Rains in May increased kernel size and produced a slightly higher yield of 2.6 tons per acre.
Temperatures rose gradually and steadily through August, resulting in a slightly warmer growing season overall.
The temperature dropped once in September, which extended the hang time and allowed the fruit to wait until fully ripe before harvesting.
Harvesting began 19 days later than usual, from October 8th to October 25th.
Continuum is an estate wine made using only grapes grown 100% on our own vineyards, and all fermentation and bottling is done in-house.
The grapes are hand-harvested at night, carefully monitoring the condition of the bunches, then further sorted before and after destemming, and transferred against gravity into French oak barrels and concrete tanks.
The wine is then left to cold soak for three days before fermentation, with 3-4 pump overs per day and 2-3 delestages during the most active fermentation period.
The wine is left in the vat with the skins for 20-40 days, after which the wine is removed, the bunches are basket pressed, and the wine and lees are transferred to barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging.
The 2019 Continuum was aged for 22 months in 66% new French oak barrels and 34% 1-2 used barrels.
Only one concrete amphora is used.
The wine is clarified slowly over time in a low-temperature maturation cellar, carefully racked, and then bottled unfiltered and unclarified.
The wines from each plot were tasted and the blend was decided after several rounds of trial and error.
Continuum Estate was founded in 2005 by Tim Mondavi, who was winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery for 20 years, his sister Marcia, and their father, the late Robert Mondavi.
The only red wine produced from the Mondavi family's own vineyards at Pritchard Hill, located deep in the mountains east of Napa Valley along winding mountain roads, is a wine of passion born out of deep respect for the Mondavi family's 100-year history.
The label features a silhouette of a Cabernet Franc vine created by Tim Mondavi's second daughter, Chiara Mondavi.
Continuum comes from the Latin "continuus," which means "continuity, succession."
The winery is located on Pritchard Hill above Lake Hennessey on the eastern side of Napa Valley.
The views from the 172 acres are spectacular.
It is also the perfect location for rich, concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verde and Merlot.
The low vitality red volcanic and clay soils mixed with andesite boulders make for spectacular hillside vineyards.
There are two types of soil in the field.
Rock-hambright loam (85%) and Sobrante loam (15%).
The region receives 550-700mm of rainfall per year and has a fairly mild climate for Napa, with occasional cold winter winds and few summer days exceeding 100°F (about 38°C).
In July and August, the maximum daytime temperature is about 30°C, and the minimum nighttime temperature is about 9°C.
The altitude is approximately 410 to 490 meters, and the slope faces southwest to west with a gradient of 5 to 20%.
We currently produce wine from grapes planted on 41 acres (approximately 17 hectares).
The remaining 20.5 acres (approximately 8 hectares) will be planted with vines in 2010, eventually bringing the total planted area to 60 acres (approximately 24 hectares).
The best grapes currently in production were planted in 1991-1992 and are Cabernet Clone 7.
The vineyard is planted with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, 11% Petit Verdot and 4% Merlot.
The farming is organic, but not certified.
In order to produce unique wines that reflect this wonderful land, we determine the rootstocks, ridge direction, and vine training methods based on the diverse soil and slopes.
The long growing season at high altitude, consistent temperatures free from frost, and low-vitmity, mineral-rich, stony soils - these three excellent conditions create the perfect environment for producing Continuum, a single-vineyard red wine that rivals the world's finest.
At Continuum we use a variety of winemaking techniques to create our wines.
We perform the manual punchdown method used in Burgundy, as well as the automatic pump-over, sediment stirring, and batonnage methods commonly used in Bordeaux.
Maceration for up to 40 days and ageing in French oak.
In 2013, the winery, designed by architect Howard Backen, was completed and Continuum is now a 100% estate wine made from grapes from Pritchard Hill's own vineyards and bottled on the same property.